Situational vs. Grammatical Teaching

[LAErickson]

Hello everyone! I am new to this website and was hoping to get some input from other ESL teachers. I taught English in Japan for 5 years, but only as an assistant teacher, the Japanese teachers created the lesson plans. Since my return to the States I have been working as a private tutor for Japanese nationals in my city. I have no educational background in teaching, and recently I have acquired two adult students who wish to study grammatical English from the ground up.

Previously we have worked on situational English; shopping, restaurants, etc. The problem with that, however, is that they are simply memorizing phrases and colloquialisms that they don't really understand. I would like to begin teaching them the foundations of grammar, but trying to figure out where to start and how to structure such lessons has been difficult for me.

Does anyone have any recommendations for trying to begin approaching English from this perspective? Have you found this to work better for some students than the rote memorization of situational study? I work one-on-one with my students, and speak their native language, so I am able to give them explanations of the grammar as I teach.

Thank you for any assistance that you can offer!

 

[Tdol]

Learning stock expressions for situations is inevitably limiting as situations often fail to develop along the smooth lines of model dialogues, a rote learning doesn't lend itself to improvisation and response. If you want to look at grammar, why not get some coursebooks for the levels you're teaching as they will at least give you a sequence and progression that you can follow.

 

[renard2]

I think Betty Azar's Grammar Series provides a very clear and easy way to teach grammar. She has three books, divided into beginner, intermediate, and advanced. If your students are already in the US, they may be able to start with intermediate but the beginner book has a great foundation for you to learn how to teach grammar explicitly.